It feels really weird to be writing this after an entire year of basically not writing at all, but I really want to try to make writing a habit again. I love my annual recap of the books I read in the previous year, so it’s fitting this is the first post that I’ll be making this year to kick things off. 2021 was an amazing year for me in a lot of ways, but it was definitely also a year of major reading slump. Even with the reading slump, I still managed to read a lot of great books!
You can always check out all of my shelves on my Goodreads profile. Below is a short review of how I felt about each read from 2021. This post is in no way sponsored. I am writing this to reflect and give honest feedback on each book I read.
Books I Read in 2021
How the King of Elfhame Learned to Hate Stories by Holly Black
Format: Hardcover
If you loved The Cruel Prince series then this is a delightful read. It’s beautifully illustrated through the whole book, and like all of Holly’s stories, very well written. One can easily read this in just an hour or two, and it was a great, lazy way to start my new year’s day. If you’ve ever read The Name of the Wind books by Patrick Rothfuss, this book fits into The Cruel Prince series in the same way The Slow Regard of Silent Things does for Name of the Wind.
Empire of Storms by Sarah J. Maas
Format: Paperback
This is going to be the series that takes me seven years to read because I procrastinate reading each book to prolong the experience. I loved this book in the series because SO many things I’ve been waiting for finally happened in this book. I’m hoping to finish the series this year, but it’s probable I will save the last one for next year.
The Invisible Life of Addie Larue by V.E. Schwab
Format: Hardcover and Audible
This was the first book in a book club I organized for the first half of the year in 2021. Getting a hard copy of this book was near impossible due to the hype it got. I’m really happy that it lived up to the hype (for me at least). The writing style of this book was really unique as a lot of Schwab’s writing is. I highly recommend it if you’ve never picked up a book by her in the past. I read in two formats because I am bad at working towards deadlines, and had to listen to audio format to keep up.
The Aeronaut’s Windlass by Jim Butcher
Format: Audible
This book was great, but not 100% my wheelhouse. Jim Butcher is an amazing fantasy author, and I’m happy to add more of his books to my shelf. The character and world building were spectacular. There were talking cats too! The parts I struggled with were the long battle scenes. I’m not as interested in long battles as I am in the characters and the plot development. It is also part of an unfinished series, so for now, I’ll treat it as a stand alone.
The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen
Format: Audible
I blazed through this book. It is a very standard enemies to lovers fantasy book. Even though I enjoyed this read, I don’t remember a lot of stand out details to really sell anyone on it.
The Traitor Queen by Danielle L. Jensen
Format: Audible
The sequel, I didn’t blaze through quite as fast other than to just get it over with. It’s not that the book was bad, but I found myself rolling my eyes at the characters a lot.
Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
Format: Paperback and Audible
This was the second book chosen for our book club, and you might remember Uprooted from my reading list last year. Another very unique fairytale that is just beautifully written. Naomi Novik is a treasure to the writing community, and I hope to continue to add more of her books to my shelves in the future.
Desperate Measures by Katee Robert
Format: Kindle
I’m just going to be up front here, this book is definitely in the smut category. If the scene where Jafar puts Jasmine in the red outfit ever made you blush a bit, then this book might be for you. There is a pet name that may be triggering to some people, so if certain things make you uncomfortable, I’d highly recommend you check trigger warnings before picking this book up. This book is part of an entire series of fairytale BDSM romance novels, so if you find that to be too much, you can always skip it and pick up a different one in the series. Very fast read.
A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
Format: Hardcover
The long awaited book about Cassian and Nesta from the ACOTAR series. I loved this book. I have my opinions on how it was marketed, but the book itself was thoroughly enjoyable. It was a nice shift in the perspective, and the new characters we are introduced to in this book are all wonderful. I especially loved the character development of the two characters. I think the book hangover from this book was a big part of my reading slump in 2021.
The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang
Format: Paperback
I found this book from my favorite BookTok account @MunnyReads. It is a graphic novel about a prince who likes to wear dresses. Very cute, very fast read, and super adorable illustrations. I read this in one sitting. Highly recommend.
Rule of Wolves by Leigh Bardugo
Format: Audible
The sequel to King of Scars, and part of the larger Grishaverse. I loved this book. If you haven’t read any books in this series, what are you waiting for?! At the very least go watch the Netflix show. Zoya, Nina, and Nikolai all have amazing stories that tie together so well in this book. I can’t wait for Leigh’s next book in whatever it is she releases next.
The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner
Format: Kindle
This series has been on my radar for a lot time at the high praises from another of my favorite authors: Emily B. Martin. It seemed far enough out of my wheel house to break me out of my normal comfort zone and reading slump. The characters were very fun, and I was happy with not being able to predict a lot of plot twists. I’ve already started the second one.
The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco
Format: Audible
This book is sadly another book that makes me second guess a lot of over-hyped recommendations from the BookTok community. I listend to this during my con crunch for Dragon Con, but I found it very hard to get absorbed in the story. Most of the time, I was just bored, and I won’t be reading more in this series.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Format: Audible
Oof. This one. I picked this up because it’s always recommended as a “good Halloween read.” I guess I kind of get that, but once the plot started to really uncover itself, I found myself just asking myself why. I kept listening because I thought, surely it will get better, but it really never did it for me. The writing was good, but this book was not for me.
Sunreach by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
Format: Audible
As always, Sanderson does not disappoint. Two short novellas were released leading up to the release of the third book in his Skyward series, which is a young adult science fiction series. This novella follows the main character’s crewmates in their own side mission. This read was funny, adorable, and overall entertaining.
Manga Classics: Pride and Prejudice by Stacy King (Story Adaptation) and Po Tse (Art)
Format: Paperback
I’m happy I added a few graphic novels to my list this year. They were nice breaks from other formats I normally stick with. I LOVE Pride and Prejudice, and this version of it was awesome. The art is gorgeous, and the storytelling had me laughing just as much as any movie version of the story ever did. I’m very interested in checking out some of the other stories in this manga classics collection in the future.
ReDawn by Brandon Sanderson and Janci Patterson
Format: Audible
The second novella leading up to Cytonic, and I loved it as much as the first one. This one is told from the perspective of an alien species that is introduced in the second book from the series. If you read this series, I really recommend making sure to read these as well. I am not finished with the latest book, but I believe they will be critical to understanding the overarching plot.
All of the books I read in 2021. It doesn’t seem like much, but looking back, I really enjoyed most of what I read in the last year. What was your favorite read of 2021? What is a book you would recommend in 2022? Leave a comment below, and don’t forget to subscribe via email or Bloglovin’ to never miss a post!
The post All the Books I Read in 2021 first appeared on Sadie by Design.
